Gerhard Symphony No.1, extract

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

About

Geoffrey Paterson

Conductor

The young British conductor Geoffrey Paterson is admired for his impressive grasp of detail, responsiveness to musicians, and his ability to shape and make music from the most complex scores, with natural authority. Highlights of 2017/18 include the world premiere of Tansy Davies’ new opera Cave with the Royal Opera House/London Sinfonietta, debuts with the Orchestre National de Lille, National Orchestra of Belgium and Basel Sinfonietta, and appearances with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Music Theatre Wales, and Red Note Ensemble. Paterson appears regularly with the London Sinfonietta in a range of projects and has recorded with them for the NMC label, including a disc with jazz saxophonist Marius Neset.

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Last season Paterson made his Bavarian State Opera debut, leading the opera studio team in Menotti’s The Consul with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. He previously conducted Porgy and Bess for the Royal Danish Opera, La bohème for Opera North, Die Entführung aus dem Serail for Glyndebourne on Tour, and HK Gruber’s Gloria von Jaxtberg at the Bregenz Festival and for the Royal Opera, where he has been a regular guest ever since joining the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme. Also at Covent Garden he has conducted Massenet’s Le Portrait de Manon (recorded for Opera Rara), Julian Philips’ How the Whale Became, Søren Nils Eichberg’s Glare, and the world premiere of Birtwistle’s chamber opera double-bill The Corridor and The Cure, which he then took to the Aldeburgh Festival and Holland Festival. In 2016 he gave the UK premiere of Eötvös’ The Golden Dragon at the 2016 Buxton Festival. Recent symphonic highlights have included appearances with the Manchester Camerata, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Hamburg Symphony, with whom he performed George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill and Berio’s Recital I.

Geoffrey Paterson studied at Cambridge University where he also took composition lessons with Alexander Goehr followed by studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Having won both First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2009 Leeds Conductors Competition, Paterson went on to participate in the Luzern Festival conducting masterclasses with Pierre Boulez. During his time on the Royal Opera House Young Artist Programme he assisted conductors including Antonio Pappano, Mark Elder, Andris Nelsons and Daniele Gatti on an extensive repertoire. For two seasons he worked in Bayreuth as musical assistant to Kirill Petrenko for Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Royal Opera House (including Massenet Le Portrait de Manon; Birtwistle The Corridor and The Cure, Tansy Davies The Cave)

Bayerische Staatsoper (Menotti The Consul)

Bregenz Festival (HK Gruber Gloria von Jaxtberg)

Glyndebourne Touring Opera (Mozart Die Entführungaus dem Serail)

Royal Danish Opera (Gershwin Porgy and Bess)

Opera North (Puccini La bohème)

Buxton Festival (Péter Eötvös The Golden Dragon)

Conductor Geoffrey Paterson balances his forces beautifully, transforming the Sinfonietta’s solo voices in The Corridor into the meshed orchestral sound of The Cure, stressing both the similarities and the contrasts of two scores luminous with harmonic interest and shy gestures of melody.

Arts Desk

Geoffrey Paterson conducts expertly, sculpting the seascapes of Riders to the Sea and the vanishingly spare colours of Savitri with equal care.